Pharmacists

Dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use. May advise physicians and other health practitioners on the selection, dosage, interactions, and side effects of medications.

Most important skills

Reading Comprehension
Active Listening
Speaking
Writing
Critical Thinking
Monitoring
Social Perceptiveness
Service Orientation

Key knowledge

Medicine and Dentistry
English Language
Biology
Mathematics
Chemistry
Education and Training
Customer and Personal Service
Law and Government

What the work involves

Review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability.
Provide information and advice regarding drug interactions, side effects, dosage, and proper medication storage.
Analyze prescribing trends to monitor patient compliance and to prevent excessive usage or harmful interactions.
Order and purchase pharmaceutical supplies, medical supplies, or drugs, maintaining stock and storing and handling it properly.
Maintain records, such as pharmacy files, patient profiles, charge system files, inventories, control records for radioactive nuclei, or registries of poisons, narcotics, or controlled drugs.
Provide specialized services to help patients manage conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, smoking cessation, or high blood pressure.
Advise customers on the selection of medication brands, medical equipment, or healthcare supplies.
Collaborate with other health care professionals to plan, monitor, review, or evaluate the quality or effectiveness of drugs or drug regimens, providing advice on drug applications or characteristics.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Social, Conventional.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Doctoral Degree (78.4% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (25%)
On-the-job training: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (39.3%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Pharmacists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	High	Higher on contact with others than 77% of occupations compared	71% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 78% of occupations compared	43% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Teamwork	High	Higher on teamwork than 60% of occupations compared	46% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important”
Freedom to make decisions	Moderate	Lower on freedom to make decisions than 56% of occupations compared	54% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	Very high	Higher on time pressure than 88% of occupations compared	68% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day”
Conflict situations	Very high	Higher on conflict situations than 90% of occupations compared	39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Very high	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 93% of occupations compared	43% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day”
Consequence of error	Very high	Higher on consequence of error than 98% of occupations compared	71% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: very high
Conflict situations: very high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
Consequence of error: very high

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions